1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an adapter; and more particularly, to an adapter for coupling a pump to existing piping in a pump station such as a sewage or other suitable pump station.
2. Purpose of or Problem Solved by Invention
Sewage pump stations around the country have aging pumps, many installed 20 to 40 years ago. In many cases, these pump stations are built in cities and towns that were not as congested as they are today. Often, the pump station cannot be expanded to accommodate new pumps so it is important to utilize existing inlet and outlet piping when replacing the old pumps.
Pumps, such as those sold by the assignee of the present patent application, have been used in many of the thousands of pump stations around the country and the world for over 100 years. Due to the assignee's excellent reputation in the sewage pumping arena, many municipalities have asked the assignee to quote on replacing old pumps not otherwise made and/or sold by the assignee with pumps sold by the assignee. While such replacement may sound like an easy task, they are not because many customers want to install the new pump in exactly the same area or footprint as the old one due to space restraints. Many times, the existing piping and check valves are in good condition and the customer prefers re-using them to save on cost.
The problem the assignee has when replacing or retrofitting the old pump is that their pump housings use a centerline discharge where most of the old pumps uses a tangential discharge pump housing. Both designs work; however, when a pump station is new, pumps, valves and piping can be laid out exactly as the pump manufacturer requests, but when the personnel from the assignee of the present patent application tried to retrofit an existing pump station, it is very difficult to hook a centerline discharge pump up to the existing tangential discharge piping in the known pump station.
Dry pit pumps sold by the assignee of the present application are normally sold with an inlet connection and outlet connection on top of each other or at the same angle. Bolting the pump to the inlet elbow or pump stand is limited in most cases to 90° intervals of rotation. In most cases, a 90° rotation is much too far to hook up to the existing piping. In some cases, additional bolt holes can be drilled in the pump stand and a 45° angle can be obtained. However, one would need to know the exact angle prior to drilling with no field adjustment available.
Most of the time, hooking up to existing piping is not an exact science. When components and piping start to come together during installation and assembly, usually even a 45° rotation will not work. One may need 39° or 48° or 22° or 19° or 40° . . . or any angle.
There is a need in the industry to address and solved this basic problem.